Sex and the City 3’s Collapse Had Nothing to Do with Cynthia Nixon’s Political Bid

Nixon got straight to work campaigning with a visit to the Bethesda Healing Center in Brooklyn on March 20th.

By Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

Cynthia Nixon wants you, potential voters of the greater New York area, to know that she would have run for governor of New York whether Sex and the City 3 had happened or not. The actress, who formally declared her political aspirations on Monday, just clarified that the dissolution of the theoretical third S.A.T.C. film did not push her toward a political career.

“Not at all,” the actress told E.T. on Tuesday, when asked that very question. “No!”

As Sex and the City fans know all too well, a third movie had been brewing for some time—but plans imploded when Kim Cattrall rejected the film, closing the door on the Samantha Jones chapter of her life, then slammed Sarah Jessica Parker repeatedly, both on social media and in an interview with Piers Morgan. Parker responded by attempting to downplay the feud, and saying she was “disappointed” that a third movie would not be happening.

All this has paved the way for Nixon’s campaign to ultimately steal the show—and watching that unfold will be sort of like seeing a third S.A.T.C. movie, won’t it?

Well, maybe not; Nixon promises that the franchise had nothing to do with her tossing her hat in the gubernatorial ring. “This is a decision that has been a long time coming,” she told E.T. “People have actually been asking me to do this for nine years.”

Nine years! Come to think of it, that’s right around the time that Nixon was prepping for the second Sex and the City movie—which means we are well within our rights to imagine that, say, Sarah Jessica Parker and David Eigenberg were some of those early voices goading the erstwhile Miranda Hobbes to take a political platform. Steve Brady would completely approve of Miranda getting into politics, right? He’d be beaming at every campaign stop, leaning into an aide’s ear and excitedly whispering, “There’s good stuff here.”

While we’re on this thought experiment . . . Carrie would be lukewarm about Miranda’s run, since she didn’t even register to vote until a cute comptroller candidate (John Slattery) came along and registered her in Season 3. (And then he did some other stuff that probably put her off politicians for good.) Charlotte would be all in until realizing during one of Miranda’s stump speeches that they have very different views on social issues, quickly deciding to Homer her way into the bushes. Samantha, on the other hand, would be thrilled to hobnob with high-powered politicos, and would do her best Olivia Pope impression when Miranda inevitably got embroiled in some sort of silly scandal. What would it be? Photographic evidence that she eats cake out of the trash? A tell-all interview with sports doctor Robert Leeds, who would sow discord among Miranda’s loyal base? We know that he is capable of powerful, profound pettiness. (But also, can you blame him?) The possibilities are endless.

But let us return to reality. Though Cattrall and Parker have yet to comment on Nixon’s run, Kristin Davis has in fact been an early cheerleader. On Monday, Nixon’s Sex and the City co-star tweeted her approval, saying her close friend would make an “excellent” governor.